Mind is always present in a bodily structure; and, vice versa, a truly living organism must be capable of cognition (the process of knowing). The same holds for human consciousness. Consciousness is not a transcendent entity, but it is always manifest within an organic living structure,
Conscious cannot be separated from the environmental network of living interactions. Separation from the network is death. Consciousness has a permeable boundary. We are conscious of something while we are in something. Each of those somethings has a consciousness of its own that influences our consciousness.
Humans who attempt to create boundaries on consciousness become self-centered, and to the extent they succeed, narcissistic.
We have a clear "sense of self" which is a sense of identity - essentially a name we give to ourselves that sums up how we see ourselves. This is an artificial identity to the extent that we see it as fixed.
Our true identity is an evolving pattern of interaction in concert with the evolution of the natural world. We gain a clearer sense of our true identity to the extent that we are open to the natural world while maintaining awareness of the essential structure of patterns of interaction that maintain health and support the fulfillment of our innate potential.
